Dayton Moore has pushed all his chips in and is riding on King/Jack suited, hoping it comes together, he gets some good luck, and he hits the nuts by the river card. There's potential, oh yes, there's potential. There's also risk.

At the midway point, Dayton is left counting on the river card. The flop and turn didn't help him, and he's looking at the Tigers holding a pair of Queens and the Indians holding a pair of 9s. His 2013 plan hasn't failed - yet - but the odds are not in his favor.

Burning questions updates below.

Burning Questions for 2013:

1) Will the improve rotation be improved enough? Does James Shields pitch like a fringe No. 1 away from Tampa Bay? Does Ervin Santana pitch to his highest upside in his walk year? Can Jeremy Guthrie build on his strong performance as a Royal in 2012? Can Wade Davis bring his new mentality- and velocity - back to the rotation?

Midseason check-in: Yes, the rotation is certainly improved enough. Shields has pitched like a fringe No. 1 and Santana is having his best season. Guthrie has horrible peripherals but has continued to perform well at his home park and eat innings on the road. Davis brought neither his kick-ass mentality or improved velocity back to the rotation and is in Luke Hochevar/Hiram Davies territory.

2) When will Luke Hochevar be shown the door?Midseason check-in: It appears, never, at this point. Hochevar has been solid in non-leverage situations, though pretty much every time he has been used with men on base in an inning, it has been a disaster.

3) Does Hosmer bounce back?Midseason check-in: It took some time, but Hosmer's performance from June 1 on is probably the most encouraging thing about the 2013 season so far.
4) Can Moustakas hit for a whole season like he did in the first half of 2012?Midseason check-in: Nope. Moustakas was god-awful, then great for about 3 weeks, then god-awful again. He has been better since he started working with Brett and Grafol but still has a long way to go.
5) Who regresses? Midseason check-in: Welp, Alicides Escobar is not a surprising name here (though Yost's stubborn insistence on hitting him second is ridiculous). Billy Butler is a surprise. He isn't having a terrible year - still contributing a lot to the offense - but he's not hitting for the average or power he has displayed over the past several years.
6) Who plays 2B?Midseason check-in: A whole bunch of people, and not that great. Gio is at least getting a shot, though he once again is not doing much with it.
7) Can Jeff Francoeur be at least replacement level, rather than epic horrible level?Midseason check-in: Hahahahahahahahahahaha
8) Will Dayton Moore survive to see 2014?Midseason check-in: Outlook uncertain. Probably still around, unless the team completely tanks in the second half and he does something foolish. My guess - he sacrifices Ned Yost this offseason and gets one more shot with a new manager in 2014.
9) Will Danny Duffy come back healthy? And if he does, is he the same, better or worse?Midseason check-in: Yes. Velocity looks the same, and it looks likely he is the same guy as before.
10) And the big one: Has KC added enough to run down the big-money Detroit Tigers?Midseason check-in: Doesn't look like it, does it?

This run has been very encouraging for fans, and I'm thrilled that we're not buried in June. That said, **** DM MUST find another bat.

Runs are still so few and far between that I have a real hard time seeing this winning streak as sustainable. At some point, one would think that the pitching will not remain this excellent. When it normalizes a bit, with this offense...yeah.

Must. Find. Bat.

And I'm about to purchase a plane ticket to Omaha for Moose, much like Whitlock offered to do for Bono and Elliot back in the day.

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Quote:

Originally Posted by badgirl

If you met me in person and didn't know who I was you would never guess it was me.

Rockies designated OF Eric Young Jr. for assignment.
Young is batting just .242/.290/.352 this season, and the Rockies haven't been happy about his defense in the outfield. Still, he batted .316/.377/.448 last year, has tons of speed and can also play second base, so he'll surely draw interest on waivers.

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Quote:

Originally Posted by DeezNutz

Sure-Oz could ****ing track anyone in the country via Twitter. Dude makes me scared to leave the house.

Rockies designated OF Eric Young Jr. for assignment.
Young is batting just .242/.290/.352 this season, and the Rockies haven't been happy about his defense in the outfield. Still, he batted .316/.377/.448 last year, has tons of speed and can also play second base, so he'll surely draw interest on waivers.